Police, community and calendar briefs for Nov. 16, 2013

Published: Saturday, November 16, 2013 at 10:04 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, November 16, 2013 at 10:04 p.m.

WEIRSDALE — A 55-year-old man escaped uninjured when his experimental plane made an emergency landing in an open field in Weirsdale on Friday, according to sheriff’s officials.

Deputy Robert Clemons saw the plane, described as a experimental plane known as a Velocity, roughly a mile south of the 12400 block of Southeast County Road 42 in an open field. The plane was not damaged and wasn’t leaking any fluids, the deputy noted in his report.

The pilot, James Hilton Coker, of Newport, a town in Wakulla County, declined medical attention and said he was uninjured. Coker told the deputy he lost a propeller approximately two miles north of where the deputy found the pilot and the plane. It’s unknown if the propeller flew off while in flight or when he made his emergency landing.

Coker said he flew from Jacksonville’s Craig Airport and was on his way to the Leesburg Airport. Coker said he had called the Federal Aviation Administration to figure out exactly where he had landed.

Man stable after accident on SR 40

A 66-year-old man is recovering in a hospital after his vehicle ran off the roadway Friday and struck a metal light pole, breaking it in two, and then hit a tree, according to Ocala Police Department officials.

Officers said Larmond Boatwright was driving his vehicle eastbound on State Road 40 when, as he approached the 2200 block, apparently had a medical condition, causing the vehicle to veer off the roadway.

Once removed from the vehicle, Boatwright was taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center in critical condition. On Saturday, officials said the man was in stable condition at the facility.

Man accused of battering girlfriend

BELLEVIEW — Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man on Friday who they say choked and threatened a woman with a machete and a BB gun.

The woman told a deputy she and her boyfriend had an argument and he slashed a tire on her vehicle to prevent her from leaving. The victim said she managed to leave the Belleview residence and later returned with a male friend to get some belongings.

There, the victim’s boyfriend, Shane Lyn Beasley, 32, exited the residence with a machete and a BB gun, threatened them, forced the woman inside and grabbed her by the throat. He held the machete to her neck and told her to tell the man who accompanied her to the residence to leave and that everything would be fine, the deputy said.

Deputies went to the home and said that Beasley refused to come out. Authorities went inside and arrested Beasley.

Deputies said Beasley told them that the weapons were for his protection against his girlfriend’s friends.

GIVE BACK NIGHT: 5-10 p.m. Monday, Chili’s, 3501 SW 36th Ave. Customers must tell server they are there for Give Back Night and 10 percent of check will be donated to Pace Center for Girls. (237-6611 or www.chilis.com)